PROXY VOTING FOR MPS: PARENTAL LEAVE

Robert Halfon: I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Priti Patel), who is also my constituency neighbour, for being an Essex champion and initiating this debate. The loss to the Government is certainly a win for Essex. Given what my hon. Friend the Minister has said, does he agree that new housing and infrastructure in Essex should be accompanied by support for substantial regeneration in towns that have real problems, such as Harlow, which is decaying because everything was built almost at the same time? Many good things are happening, but we need desperate help with the regeneration of our town centre, for example.